Mr. John Murphy:

The important issue is the total level of the compliance cost with a proposed EU directive. A high proportion of whatever that cost will be is an administrative one. The issue is whether it is a large or a small cost and whether there are sensible ways to reduce it.

The objective of reducing the administrative burden by 25%, which was set some years ago, was also referred to. We are directly involved in progressing that initiative. We have been working with other Departments to do a base-lining methodology and to apply it to whatever measures are being taken to see if it is reducing administrative costs. I can tell members that we have just about achieved that objective ourselves, in particular through improving customer service in the areas where we directly interface with business - for example, the Companies Registration Office, in the health and safety area, in the industrial relations area, in work permits and so on.